


Thunderstruck

by 0JokingAround



Series: UnderTropes [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bad Puns, Big Brothers, Comfort/Angst, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fear, Friendship, Humor, Intense, Little Brothers, Mild Language, Nicknames, Papyrus (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Papyrus (Undertale)-centric, Phobias, Protective Edge, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Stretch, Rain, Sad Papyrus (Undertale), Sleepovers, Suspense, TV Tropes, Texting, Thunder and Lightning, Thunderstorms, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Worried Papyrus (Undertale), Worried Sans (Undertale), Younger Brother Papyrus (Undertale), astrophobia, fear of thunder, scared papyrus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-08-24 20:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16647296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0JokingAround/pseuds/0JokingAround
Summary: Papyrus looked between his two friends and hesitated to tell them the truth. If he told them everything, would it really help him? What would they think of Sans afterwards?  Or him? Would they be treated differently?





	1. The Calm Before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> My attempt at a trope challenge. This story focuses on the “fear of thunder” trope.
> 
> Undertale Papyrus- Papyrus- Normal  
> Underswap Papyrus- Stretch- lowercase  
> Underfell Papyrus- Edge- ALL CAPS

He always loved the rain. Despite it limiting his options in being active outside, he loved the sounds that it made. The pitter-pattering of the rain hitting against the roof and the windows soothed him. The rain made him feel so calm and at peace, if it ended up raining all night tonight he wouldn’t mind it one bit. He always liked to think that whenever it rained it was like natures way of reminding him to take a break every now and then and just relax in the comfort of his own home.

And what better way to do that than with friends!

The rain was actually quite unexpected for tonight, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise. He absolutely loved falling asleep to the sounds of the rain. It was like a lullaby, but without any words!

It was a great way to end his even greater sleepover.

He heard Stretch yawn and watched him slowly get up from the couch. "well, i don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parades, but i wetter get to bed soon before i waterfall asleep on this couch."

Edge rolled his eyes at the onslaught of puns and groaned. "AND I THOUGHT THE POPCORN WOULD GET ME SICK." He said as he got up from the couch as well and headed towards the kitchen with an empty popcorn bowl.

Papyrus stared at Stretch with a deadpanned expression on his face. "...You’re uninvited to my next sleepover." Stretch chuckled and walked past him to go up the stairs, but not before giving him a quick rub on the head. "Nyeh! Don’t think showing affection will make me forgive you for your horrible puns! You’re still uninvited."

Stretch stopped right in front of the staircase, one hand grabbing the rail and one foot on the first step. He looked at Papyrus with a lazy smile. "can i invite myself over?" His response was a face full of a small pillow that Papyrus threw at him from the couch. The pillow fell with a soft thud on the floor, and the two skeletons just stared at each other for a few seconds before Stretch grinned in a way that made Papyrus nervous.

Papyrus knew that grin anywhere. It was the same one his own brother would have on his face whenever he just thought of a very, very awful pun.

"Stretch, don’t you da-"

"guess i know why they’re called throw pillows now. thanks, paps. now if you’ll excuse me, i’ve gotta catch up on some z’s. i bed you and edge adieu." He said as he placed his other hand over his chest and gave a small bow before quickly teleporting out of another attack of a throw pillow.

This time, however, it was Edge that threw it. Papyrus looked back at him and sighed. "He’s a hopeless cause, isn’t he?"

Edge sighed. "UNFORTUNATELY. THOUGH, I THINK IF HE DIDN’T PUN IT’D BE JUST AS CONCERNING." He said, which Papyrus nodded his head and hummed in agreement. He made his way towards the stairs and walked up until he stopped halfway, a thought suddenly popping into his mind. He looked down at Papyrus, who was gathering the throw pillows on the floor and placing them both on the end of the couch, and said, "WAIT A MINUTE...WHERE ARE YOU SLEEPING?"

"NYEH?"

"I HEARD YOU TOLD STRETCH THAT HE COULD SLEEP IN SANS’ ROOM, AND YOU TOLD ME THAT I COULD SLEEP IN YOURS. SO, WHERE ARE YOU SLEEPING THEN?"

"On the couch!" Papyrus said with a smile, which made Edge frown and walked down the stairs. Papyrus saw this and went in front of the stairs with his arms wide open to block him. "Edge, no! As your friend and host, I insist you sleep in my room."

Edge stopped just in front of Papyrus, standing on the first step of the staircase with his arms folded. He looked down at Papyrus with a stern look and said, "YOU’RE NOT SLEEPING ON THE COUCH WHEN YOU HAVE A BED, PAPYRUS."

"The couch is just as comfy as the bed!"

Edge sighed and pinched the bridge between his naval cavity. As much as he wanted to convince him to sleep in his own room, he also knew that Papyrus was just as stubborn as him, maybe even more so. If they argued now it’ll only be over by the break of dawn tomorrow, and as much as he hated to admit to himself, he didn’t think he could do that with how tired he felt right now. So, without a second thought and no hesitation whatsoever, he took in a deep breath and yelled, "STRETCH! PAPYRUS PLANS TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH!"

"E-Edge!" Papyrus yelled in shock, feeling betrayed by his own friend before gasping when he heard the crackling sound of magic behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Stretch look at him with a slight frown.

"you were going to sleep on the couch?"

"Well, yes! As my friends and guests, you and Edge will have the bedrooms and I’ll sleep down here in the living room where the couch is as it’s the only resting place left in the house."

"paps, come on, the couch is good for a nap or two but to sleep in it for a whole night? that’s gonna be uncomfortable."

"Why are you two underestimating the comfort level of my couch?" Papyrus said as he placed both of his hands on his hips and pouted.

Stretch chuckled with a shook of his head and rubbed Papyrus’ head again. "we don’t underestimate your couch’s comfiness, buddy."

"I DO."

"i don’t underestimate your couch’s comfiness, buddy. "Stretch said, throwing a quick, small glare at Edge’s way over Papyrus’ shoulder. Edge just shrugged s as a response. Stretch looked back at Papyrus with a gentle smile. "but this is your house along with sans. you should sleep in your own bed. look, i’ll sleep on the couch so you could-"

"OH NO YOU DON’T! THEN THAT WOULD MEAN THAT I’D HAVE TO SLEEP IN SANS’ ROOM. I REFUSE TO SLEEP IN A BED WHERE A TRASH TORNADO CAN POSSIBLY SUFFOCATE ME IN MY SLEEP! I’M SLEEPING ON THE COUCH." Edge declared as he pointed a thumb at himself.

Stretch chuckled. "sans’ room isn’t that bad. it’s just like any other average bedroom."

"TRASH. TORNADO."

"not. lethal."

"Both of you, hush! Edge, Stretch, I’m going to sleep on the couch and that’s that. Neither of you are going to convince me otherwise and change my mind! Seriously, it’s not that big of a-"

*BOOM!

All three skeletons jumped a bit, startled by the sudden sound of thunder. Stretch placed a hand over his chest where his soul was and sighed, "geez, that almost scared me outta my-"

"DON’T. YOU. DARE." Edge growled.

"thun. der. wear." Stretch said with a grin and let out a small chuckle at the disappointed face that Edge made at him. He looked at Papyrus to see if he made a similar reaction but what he saw made his grin disappear in a second. "paps?"

Papyrus was frozen at the spot, hands still on his hips and not moving a single inch. His eye-sockets were wide open and his mouth was pressed tightly into a thin line. He felt his soul beating rapidly in his ribcage, hoping the other two couldn’t hear it. He mentally screamed on the inside and silently prayed to Asgore that it wasn’t going to thunder throughout the whole night. As much as he loves the rain, he...didn’t love thunder all that much...

Or at all.

It surprised him that he didn’t see the lightning before, probably distracted by the argument he was having with his friends. Lightning he had mixed feelings about. Lightning meant that thunder was nearby, and that wasn’t something he wanted to disrupt his peaceful rain. He would be lying though if he said he didn’t think of the lightning as a flashlight for the rain to see in the darkness. In an ironic kind of twist, it was also a good sign of warning to what was going to happen afterwards in a few seconds or minutes. Whenever he saw lightning, he would always try to prepare himself for the awful, terrifying noises that would follow but his attempts always failed.

"PAPYRUS?" Edge said after noticing the worried look on Stretch’s face after he didn’t get a verbal response from Papyrus. Edge couldn’t see Papyrus’ face as he was still behind him on the first step, but he definitely noticed how tense his friend’s body was. He touched his shoulder and shook it a bit but Papyrus still gave no response, or any indication that he heard him or felt his hand.

A flash of light engulfed the room for a second, before a low, rumbling noise soon followed.

Papyrus felt his soul beating more frantically, and desperately tried to move but to no avail. "C-can’t move. Can’t m-m-move...", He said just above a whisper. He was shocked and slightly proud of himself for managing to talk, even if it was only just a little.

The thunder usually silenced him completely...unless sobs counted.

Stretch and Edge were stunned by hearing his words and how he said them. They never heard the usually upbeat, cheerful skeleton sound so small and frightened before. They looked at each other, both of them with a matching expression of worry etched in their faces.

The rumbling grew louder.

Stretch looked at Papyrus and placed a hand on his shoulder. "paps, listen to me. i’m going to teleport you and i to your room. close your eye-sockets, ok? don’t wanna get nauseous again like last time, alright?" Papyrus didn’t nod or say a word, but he did close his eye-sockets very tightly. Stretch looked back at Edge and said, "call sans."

"No!"

Papyrus’ frantic yell startled both Stretch and Edge, and even seemed to startle himself too. "P-Please, don’t he...he doesn’t know..." He said shakily.

He still had his eye-sockets closed, but he could only imagine how bewildered his friends looked right now. He would tell Sans everything and everybody knew this. He would tell him everything whether he was sad, happy, scared, anything! He was an open book to Sans! Nothing was too personal for him to tell his big brother...

Except for this.

Edge sighed, and Papyrus felt his hand squeeze his shoulder gently. "TELEPORT US TO HIS ROOM. IF SANS DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS THEN THERE’S NO POINT IN CALLING HIM FOR HELP."

"he should be informed-"

"No, please..."Papyrus pleads and opens his eyes.

Stretch looked at Papyrus and felt his soul deflate a little. The expression on his friend’s face was the equivalent of a kicked puppy. Papyrus’ eye-sockets were practically begging for him not to tell Sans. Stretch sighed and hesitantly nodded at him."close your eye-sockets, edge.

Edge, remembering how dizzy and nauseated he was the last time he didn’t close his eyes after being teleported for the first time, did as he was told.

Stretch closed his eyes and teleported the three of them inside Papyrus’ room. Teleporting more than just himself definitely used more magic than what he was used to using. As soon as his feet hit the flame-bordered rug of the room, he felt himself sway a bit. He steadied himself after a few seconds and looked at Papyrus.

Papyrus was still in the same position, still unmoving and scared.

*BOOM!

The sound of thunder wasn’t as loud as the first one but it still had an effect on Papyrus, who shuddered in fear as a response. A few tears were hanging onto the rims of his eye-sockets, ready to fall any second now. Stretch and Edge helped him over to his race car bed, which was no easy task. Papyrus’ whole body shook and his movements were very stiff. What should’ve taken a few seconds to get to the bed turned into a few minutes.

Stretch and Edge’s souls felt heavy in their ribcage just seeing Papyrus like this.

When they finally made it to the side of the bed, Stretch pulled up the covers while Edge helped Papyrus settle in. Once Papyrus was in his bed, Stretch tucked him in and Edge wiped away his tears before they fell. They both sat down on the bed next to him, watching the shivering skeleton in front of them struggle a bit to pull the covers over his head. When he managed to untuck himself and pull his blanket over his head,Papyrus curled himself into a fetal position, faint whimpering sound emanating underneath.

It was a sight that broke a piece of Stretch and Edge’s souls.

"HOW DOES SANS NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?" Edge asked in a gentle tone. Honestly, if Papyrus reacted this badly to thunderstorms, how could Sans miss it? He knew that thunder and lightning was a common fear in small children, both human and monster, but Papyrus was almost a young adult. He should’ve outgrown this fear unless...

A disturbing thought quickly entered in Edge’s mind, and he silently hoped that he was wrong for once in his life.

“I...I’m sorry, Edgy. I-I can’t-.”

“DID SANS DO SOMETHI-“ Edge quickly shut his mouth, but it was too late. His temper got the best of him. He turned his head to Stretch and saw his mouth drop slightly, eye-sockets wide with disbelief before turning into a glare.

“how can you...are you implying that sans-“

“I DON’T WANT TO IMPLY ANYTHING! IT WAS...IT WAS JUST A THOUGHT, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY I SAID IT OUT LOUD.” Edge said and looked away, staring at the flame embroidered carpet in the middle of Papyrus’ room. He didn’t want to think that Sans would ever harm Papyrus in any way, but this whole situation just seemed so weird to him.

“sans would never-“

“I KNOW, I JUST...” Edge sighed and looked at Stretch with a slightly ashamed expression on his face, though he’ll never admit that he’s ever had an expression like that. Not even a little. “YOU KNOW I THINK OF THE WORST POSSIBLE CASE SCENARIO WHEN IT COMES TO...” He motions his head towards Papyrus’ direction without looking, “I DON’T MEAN TO, IT JUST...HAPPENS.”

Stretch’s glare fell when his eye-sockets moved to where Edge was motioning to, and he looked back at him in sympathy. “h-hey, i’m sorry i...i think like that too sometimes, you know. i shouldn’t be such a hypocrite about it.”

“IT’S FINE.” Edge said sincerely before turning his head to Papyrus, who was peeking at them with scared eyes. He felt a pang of guilt and gently took one of Papyrus’ hand that was shakily clutching at the blanket. Papyrus squeezed his hand tightly as Edge rubbed smoothing circles on his knuckles. “PAPYRUS, I’M NOT TRYING TO ACCUSE YOUR BROTHER OF ANY WRONG DOING. I JUST FIND IT A BIT ODD THAT HE DOESN’T KNOW AND YOUR FEAR OF HIM FINDING ABOUT THIS CONSIDERING HOW CLOSE YOU TWO ARE. I’M SORRY FOR JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS.”

“...It wasn’t his fault.” Papyrus said in a soft tone, and gulped when he saw his two friends stare at him in shock.

“p-papyrus, you’re not...are you saying that sans actually-“ Stretch couldn’t find it in himself to finish his sentence. He was in such disbelief at the mere thought that Sans would ever hurt Papyrus on purpose.

“He didn’t mean to!” He yelled and sat up, looking desperately back and forth between Stretch and Edge. His grip on Edge’s hand tightened and shook by the force of it. Edge didn’t mind, or even noticed as he just stared at Papyrus and hoped he heard him wrong.

“H-He didn’t meant to.” Papyrus whined and let go of Edge’s hand. He covered his face and cried silently with a few sniffles here and there, but not before seeing a flash of light.

Unfortunately, he heard right.

Edge also heard a low rumbling noise approaching. He quickly pulled Papyrus into a hug and cupped the back of his head to bury into his scarf. He rubbed his head gently and rubbed smooth circles on his back as he let Papyrus let it all out on his scarf. Stretch joined in on the hug and placed his hands over where Papyrus’ ears would be if he had any. Despite not having ears like humans and some monsters do, a skeletons hearing still took place in the same spot.

Stretch leaned his head against the back of Papyrus’ head and nuzzled it a little.

*BOOM!

Strtch pressed his hands firmly to Papyrus’ skull before letting go and mimicking Edge’s hand movement’s on his head and back. “did i block off the noise a little?”

He could see and feel Papyrus nod his head, but there was no denying the violent tremor Papyrus’ body made when the sound hit.

Papyrus sniffled and leaned back. Edge immediately brought his hands up to wipe the tears off of his face while Stretched hugged him from behind.

“papyrus, i don’t want to force you into talking about something you don’t want to, but me and Edge are thinking about some really bad stuff right now. if you could tell us something, anything to reassure us that we’re just overthinking this whole situation, that would be great.” He said, feeling his own soul pounding nervously against his chest.

Papyrus looked between his two friends and hesitated to tell them the truth. If he told them everything, would it really help him? What would they think of Sans afterwards? Or him? Would they be treated differently?

Edge could practically see the inner turmoil Papyrus was having with himself so he proposed an idea they might help him and Stretch in figuring this whole thing out. “WOULD IT BE EASIER FOR YOU IF WE ASKED YES OR NO QUESTIONS? YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO ANSWER VERBALLY, YOU CAN JUST SHAKE YOUR HEAD NO, OR NOD FOR YES.”

Papyrus thought about that idea for a moment before nodding and taking a deep, shaky breath.

“Okay.” he sniffles, “Ask away...”


	2. After a Storm Comes a Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the night not going the way that he’d hoped or planned, his friends didn’t seem to care about how the sleepover was pretty much ruined at this point. All his friends cared about was his safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My attempt at a trope challenge. This story focuses on the “fear of thunder” trope.
> 
> Undertale Papyrus- Papyrus- Normal  
> Undertale Sans- Sans- lowercase bold  
> Underswap Papyrus- Stretch- lowercase  
> Underfell Papyrus- Edge- ALL CAPS

A flash of light brightened the room for a second, and the low rumbling beginnings of thunder soon followed.

"hey, buddy. here’s a question for you." Stretch said while tapping Papyrus’ shoulder. Papyrus looked at him over his shoulder and blinked. "you want me and edge to sleep with you for the night? i’m sure your bed is big enough for all three of us, maybe you won’t feel so scared with two bony guards around," he said with a small smile and a wink, hoping to make Papyrus feel a little at ease from the thunder that was going to strike any minute now. "plus, it’ll end the debate on who sleeps where."

Edge looked at Stretch with a deadpan expression for a good few seconds before rubbing a hand down his face in exasperation. "YOU COULDN’T HELP YOURSELF COULD YOU."

"nope."

Papyrus looked thoughtful for a moment, before nodding his head. Edge and Stretch had to help him get tucked in again and once they pulled the blankets over themselves, the rumbling sounds grew louder. Edge and Stretch immediately wrapped their arms protectively around Papyrus. They felt him tense up and whimper, his body shaking as they all anticipated for the-

*BOOM!

Paprus quickly placed both of his hands over his mouth, screaming and shutting his eyes tightly. Only when he stopped screaming did he realize what he did without a second thought. He guessed it was a force of habit at this point. He sighed, feeling bad enough that his friends had to see him like this. He didn’t want to worry them any further by hearing him scream how terrified he was.

A few seconds passed and Papyrus opened up his eye sockets, sighing in relief once the sound of thunder died down. He looked to his left, and saw shock and fear in Edge’s eyelights. He looked to his right and saw Stretch with the same expression on his face. He looked down and closed his eye sockets, feeling ashamed of himself. His sleepover was turning into a disaster.

They were all supposed to be having a good time, and they were until the thunder had to ruin it all. It was just another reason why he...didn’t like thunder very much.

"WHY DID..."Edge was about to ask but stopped himself, remembering that they were supposed to ask yes or no questions for now, for Papyrus’ sake. "DID YOU COVER YOUR MOUTH SO YOU WOULDN’T BE HEARD?"

It was a simple question, and an obvious one at that, but he figured they should go easy on the questions for him...

For now.

Papyrus hesitated at first but nodded with a whimper. His eye sockets were still closed but when he felt a hand tilt his chin up, he opened his eye sockets and saw Stretch. Worry was clearly written on his friend’s face, though there was a determined look in his eye lights too.

With the thumb of his hand, Stretch rubbed Papyrus’ chin gently, resting his forehead against his own. "do you try to keep quiet often whenever it thunders?" he asked just above a whisper.

Papyrus tried to look down again, but the hand on his chin wasn’t letting him. He closed his eye sockets but Stretch wasn’t going to have that either. "look at me, paps. look at me and answer my question, and then answer me this; do you think i’d let anything hurt you?"

Papyrus quickly opened his eye sockets and looked at Stretch in shock. He shook his head violently, and Stretch chuckled a bit at his reaction.

"is that a no for question number one or two?" he said, forgetting about the yes or no questions agreement.

"T-Two," Papyrus and gulped, "I-I didn’t mean to quiet myself, I’m just...used to it." He said, seeing Stretch’s face tense up at his answer so he quickly added, "and to be more specific with your second question, no. You’d never let anything hurt me. You...you’d protect me a-and make me feel safe like always..."

Stretch blushed a bit hearing that, feeling his soul skip a beat knowing that he made Papyrus feel that way. He smiled gently and nuzzled Papyrus’ forehead with his own. Papyrus felt Edge’s arms tightened around his body and when Stretch let his chin go, he looked at Edge and saw him glare at him a little.

"WHAT ABOUT ME?" He asked a bit defensively, forgetting about the agreement as well when he heard that. A small feeling of jealousy crept onto his soul to hear Papyrus say and show such admiration towards Stretch and not him, not that he would ever admit it. Papyrus chuckled at his reaction and moved his arms, hooking each of them around and under Edge and Stretch’s arms, intertwining his fingers with theirs. He nuzzled Edge’s forehead with his own and said, "You always make me feel safe, Edgy. I know you’d do anything to protect me, my royal guard."

Edge’s face turned as red as his scarf when he heard that, feeling his soul swell up in his ribcage. Papyrus never called him that before...he wondered if that was a new nickname. It was way better than Edgy...but he’d be lying to himself if that one didn’t grow on him a little.

Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

A flash of light engulfed the room for a second before it was dark again. Edge and Stretch squeezed his hands tightly. They held him more securely and heard the low rumbling noise again. Papyrus struggled between them, instinctively trying to cover his mouth but Edge and Stretch refused to let him do so.

"LET IT ALL OUT," Edge said, and a second passed before the rumbling noise grew louder. Papyrus whimpered and clenched his teeth hard, closing his eyes tightly and shaking his head wildly. He struggled more but it was no use, his friends had an iron grip on his hands.

*BOOM!

He screamed.

He screamed so loudly, he could hear it echo off the walls and into the darkness. He sobbed and whimpered when he stopped screaming. He still struggled in his friends hold, desperately trying to cover his face. He wanted to hide so badly. He felt so ashamed and embarrassed of his actions. He felt like such a baby bones right now.

Edge and Stretch watched him scream in shock. His scream sounded so pained and scared, and it was ringing in their heads even after he stopped. When the ringing stopped and they heard his sobs and whimpers, they each nuzzled a side of his head and whispered to him soothing words.

"you’re safe. you’re safe. there’s no need to be scared."

"WE’LL PROTECT YOU, PAPYRUS. ALWAYS HAVE AND ALWAYS WILL."

Papyrus’s sobs and whimpers died down after a few minutes. He sniffled as they wiped his tears away with their hands that weren’t holding his.

Edge hesitated to ask but with a deep breath he asked, "DO YOU TRY TO KEEP QUIET BECAUSE OF SANS?"

Papyrus hesitated for a moment before looking at him with tears at the edge of his eye sockets, threatening to spill as he nodded.

Stretch gulped and asked, "does sans...tell you to keep quiet?"

Papyrus turned his head to Stretch and slowly shook his head, "I tell myself to be quiet. I want to. If not then...Sans will be very upset with me. I-I know he will," he said with a shiver.

Edge and Stretch’s eye sockets widened hearing that but before either of them could ask him to elaborate on that, Papyrus says, "I’m supposed to be strong for him. I have to be strong...for him. If...if he hears me then he’ll know that I’m scared and weak and-"

"so he thought it was okay to fucking punish you for that?!" Stretch yelled and gritted his teeth, his left eye blazing with magic but as soon as he saw the look on Papyrus’ face, he dismissed his magic. Papyrus looked shocked, scared, and Stretch’s soul felt heavy at the realization that he was the reason why he looked as such. Even Edge was looking at him in shock, his jaw slightly agape in disbelief. He leaned his forehead against his and nuzzled him again, closing his eyes tightly. "i’m sorry. i’m sorry, i...i didn’t mean to yell at you, paps. i’m sorry."

"Y-You cursed..."

Stretch felt ashamed of himself. It’s not like he’s never cursed before but he’s never cursed in front of Papyrus or his own little brother, Blue. Ever. "i-i know, i’m sorry. i know how much you hate hearing those kind of words."

"It’s okay, you were just...upset," he said and squeezed their hands for a moment before adding, "Just like Sans would be if he found out about this..."

"OH, DON’T WORRY. I PLAN TO GIVE SANS A PIECE OF MY MIND TOMORROW MORNING," Edge said with a slight growl.

Papyrus turned to look at Edge and panicked, "Edge, y-you can’t he’ll-"

"IF HE EVEN LAYS A FINGER ON YOU PAPYRUS, I WILL GIVE HIM A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE WITHOUT ANY HESITATION! YOU HAVE MY WORD ON THAT," he growled angrily.

Stretch flinched hearing that, and Edge noticed his reaction. He raised a bone brow at him, "YOU WOULDN’T?"

"sans is our friend. i’d...hesitate but if he does try to hurt papyrus in any way because of this, he’ll definitely have a bad time."

"Wh-what, no!" Papyrus says loudly in a worried tone, "You two will not hurt my brother!"

Edge and Stretch shared a look, one that Papyrus couldn’t read very well, before squeezing Papyrus’ hands in a comforting manner and hugging him just a bit tighter.

"paps, your brother...what sans did to you wasn’t right. you understand that right?"

"I-It wasn’t his fault." Papyrus pleaded but Stretch and Edge just shared another look with each other that he couldn’t read again. "He didn’t mean to," he added quietly before yawning. They both sighed and looked at him with what he could tell was sadness but before any of them could say a word, a flash of light lit up the room again. Papyrus gripped their hands tightly, while Edge and Streth held him more securely in their arms.

The sound of thunder was quickly approaching.

"remember what edge said before, paps."

"L-Let it all o-o-out..."

*BOOM!

Papyrus screamed again, more louder than the one before. Edge and Stretch jumped a bit in fear as well as the house shook a little from the powerful sound, the rain hitting agrressively against the house now. Papyrus whined again but tried not to sob so loudly this time, or at least not as loud like before. Once again, Edge and Stretch were right there beside him to calm him down. When the house stopped shaking and he loosened his grip on their hands, he felt grateful for his friends for being with him at the moment.

It warmed his soul to know how much they cared about him. Despite the night not going the way that he’d hoped or planned, his friends didn’t seem to care about how the sleepover was pretty much ruined at this point. All his friends cared about was his safety. They just wanted him to feel safe, comfortable, and protected. He felt tears gathering up in the corner of his eye sockets just thinking about how lucky he was to have such great friends. He chuckled when he felt a hand on each side of his face wiping away those tears before they could even roll down his cheekbones.

"Thank you for being my friends," he said when he noticed the strange looks Edge and Stretch were giving him when they saw him chuckle, "Even though I’m still pretty terrified at the moment, it feels...nice knowing that you two are right here beside me, protecting me and taking care of me."

Edge and Stretch blushed and smiled at that, feeling theirs souls swell up a little, pride and joy, and Papyrus smiled right back. He sighed in slight relief, "It’s so much better than trying to handle this situation on my own."

That last part caught Edge and Stretch’s attention, in which they both looked at him in question. "on your own?/ ON YOUR OWN?" They asked in unison.

Papyrus looked down sadly for a moment before closing his eye sockets and nodding shortly. "Y-Yeah, I’m always home alone whenever it thunders. It’s quite unfortunate really."

For a moment, the only sounds that could be heard was the rain and wind. Stretch and Edge glanced at each other, both beyond confused at this point.

"WAIT...SANS ISN’T...HE’S NEVER WITH YOU WHEN IT THUNDERS?" Papyrus opened his eye sockets and looked at Edge, nodding with a hum. "B-BUT THEN WHY...HOW..."

"papyrus...if you don’t mind, can you tell us how this fear started? because, me and edge are thinking about some really bad stuff again," Stretch said gently and watched as Papyrus looked thoughtful for a moment.

Papyrus glanced at Edge and Stretch with a concerned look on his face before looking down and closing his eyes. "O-ok, but only if you don’t tell my brother."

Edge and Stretch glanced at each other again, both not feeling sure if that was a good idea or not. After a few seconds, Stretch looked back at Papyrus and squeezed his hand. "promise," he said hesitantly.

Edge squeezed Papyrus’ hand. "PROMISE."

Still with his eyes closed, Papyrus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ok, well...I’m not really sure when it started. It definitely happened before coming to the surface but other than that I can’t remember. I just know that I was always home alone whenever it thundered. Sans was either working, drinking at Grillby’s, or sleeping whenever it happened," Papyrus said with a small sniffle, feeling pinpricks of tears threatening to escape his eye sockets again. He clenched his eyes trying to prevent the tears from spilling and sighed, "Thunder is just...so loud and ruins the peaceful atmosphere of the rain! I-I don’t know how Sans can sleep through something that sounds like it can bring the whole house down! I-it’s s-s-scary."

Edge and Stretch held him tighter when they felt him shiver in fear. They both nuzzled the sides of his head while squeezing his hand. The pieces were starting to fit together but there was still a few missing.

"so he’s really unaware of this?"

Papyrus nodded. "I made sure of that."

"WHY?"

Papyrus shifted a little uncomfortable in his friend’s arms before sighing again. "Because I didn’t want to be a burden to him...," he said quietly. Edge and Stretch were shocked by that answer and were about to retort but Papyrus had more to say.

"It was already hard enough for Sans to take care of me on his own. It was hard enough for Sans to balance out his work and social life while also trying to make time for me. It was bad enough that he had to deal with nightmares of who knows what every now and then. The last thing I wanted to do to my brother was to give him another problem to deal with," Papyrus said with a crack in his voice.

Edge and Stretch looked at him in shock, not believing what their usual upbeat friend was saying.

"YOU DID NOT JUST CALL YOURSELF A BURDEN..." Edge said in both disbelief and anger.

Papyrus opened his eyes to look Edge with a sad look and nodded, tears on the corners of his eye sockets just hanging by a thread.

"papyrus," Stretch said gently but Papyrus still picked up on the barely contained anger behind his voice. When Papyrus turned his attention to him, Stretch squeezed his hand and looked at him with a determined, confident look in his eye sockets, a serious expression plastered on his usual care-free face.

"papyrus, as an older brother myself, trust me when I say that you are not a burden. You could never, were never, and will never be considered as a burden. If I ever thought of my little brother, berry, like that for even a second i’d hate myself, and sans would too.."

"Sans would blame himself for this, for my fear and that’s just not true! It’s my fault not his! He didn’t mean to make me feel like a burden, I did that to myself, and as a result I ended up with a fear of thunder. I wanted to make things easier for Sans and be a big boy and handle this fear on my own..." Papyrus said with a sigh, "And look how that turned out...", feeling disappointed in himself that after all these years he was still afraid of thunder.

"...I CAN’T TELL IF YOU’RE ONE OF THE MOST COURAGEOUS SKELETONS I KNOW...OR THE DUMBEST," Edge said, making Papyrus gasp in shock with a pained look on his face. Stretch snorted, knowing that Edge would never insult Papyrus like that and knew what he was getting at. "FOR SO MANY YEARS YOU’VE HIDDEN THIS FEAR INSIDE OF YOU AND NEVER SAID A WORD TO YOUR BROTHER, JUST SO YOU COULD MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR HIM. I CAN’T POSSIBLY IMAGINE MYSELF BEING IN YOUR SITUATION FOR SO LONG AND NOT GO ABSOLUTELY INSANE. THAT TAKES REAL DETERMINATION, PAPYRUS, AND A WHOLE LOT OF COURAGE."

Edge watched in satisfaction in seeing Papyrus blush and look away from him. His friend wasn’t so easily embarrassed, so this felt like a big victory for Edge.

"E-Edgy, you would’ve easily gotten over thunder if you were s-scared of it at first...y-you’re the bravest skeleton I know!"

Edge felt his victory short lived and buried his head in the pillow they were all sharing, screaming in both pride, joy, and embarrassment.

Stretch snorted in amusement and said, "congrats, paps. you broke edge. i’m so proud of you."

Edge lifted his head up slightly and glared at Stretch, who laughed at how red his face was. He mouthed a few curses at him silently and hoped Papyrus didn’t catch what he was saying. Stretch stuck out his tongue as a response. Edge rolled his eyes at him and looked back at Papyrus, clearing his throat a little. "Y-YES, WELL DESPITE MY TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF BRAVERY, EVEN I WOULD’VE HAD A FEW TROUBLES IN CONQUERING THE FEAR OF THUNDER IF I WERE IN YOUR SHOES. NONETHELESS, NOT TELLING YOUR BROTHER WASN'T THE BRIGHTEST IDEA, PAPYRUS."

Papyrus looked down in shame and sighed, knowing he should’ve told Sans at some point but couldn’t find it in himself to.

"edge is right, paps. sans would’ve helped you if you told him about this. you wouldn’t have suffered for so long. he may have been busy trying to make a life for you two, but you come first above all else for him. he would’ve dropped everything to help you, buddy, without hesitation."

"How do you know that for sure?"

Stretch smiled fondly at him before nuzzling his head, "i’m a big brother too, remember?"

Papyrus smiled and nuzzled back. He giggled when he felt Edge nuzzle a particular spot of his neck that was quite ticklish.

"I WOULD’VE HELPED YOU IF I WAS THERE..."

"same here."

Papyrus felt tears in his eye sockets again, and felt his soul swell in joy and feeling overwhelming grateful for the two skeleton right beside him. "Nyeh!" he shouted gleefully and let go of their hands to wrap around their necks to pull them into a crushing hug. Edge and Stretch grunted in surprise but then huffed a bit of laughter and hugged the happy skeleton back.

"You two are silly, you are helping me," Papyrus said before a flash of lightning lit up the room for a second. He shivered in fear and chuckled nervously," I-I’d be a frozen statue o-or a sobbing mess all night without you two here."

"SPEAKING OF NIGHT..."Edge said and took a quick look at Papyrus’ alarm clock. "WE ONLY HAVE HALF AN HOUR LEFT BEFORE ITS DAYTIME."

"What?!"

*BOOM!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Papyrus screamed loudly and pulled Stretch and Edge closer to him, grabbing a fistful of their pajamas shirts as if his life depended on it. Edge and Stretch rubbed his back soothingly and whispered comforting words to him.

"I-I’m s-sorry this wasn’t much of a s-sl-sleepover."

"it’s no problem, paps."

"AND YOU’RE NOT A PROBLEM EITHER, PAPYRUS, JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING."

Papyrus hesitated for a moment before he nodded and yawned, causing the other two to yawn as well.

"let’s try to get some sleep, buddy. alright?"

"Alright, I’ll try," He said with a yawn. He gave the two a quick kiss on their cheekbones before closing his eyes. "Goodnight, Edgy. Goodnight, Stretchy. You two are one of the best."

Edge and Stretch were caught off guard by his kiss and his words, and choked on their own words, their faces engulfed by the color of their magic. Stretch chuckled and rubbed Papyrus’ head fondly while Edge internally screamed in pride and joy. The two buried their heads in Papyrus’ shoulders, nuzzling him and whispering him muffled goodnights. The room was silent for a moment, except for the sounds of the rain, before a thought just occurred to Papyrus.

"Stretch, what did you mean when you said something about sans punishing me? And Edge, what did Stretch mean when he said I broke you. Are you alright?"

Stretch and Edge pretended to snore loudly, hoping Papyrus would drop the subjects. They sighed in content when they heard a little snore right beside them a second later.

* * *

 The next morning he woke up in an empty bed. He looked at his left and right side, but there was no sign of Edge and Stretch. The spots they were in were still warm though, so he figured they must’ve left no too long ago. He yawned and grabbed his blanket to get out of bed but a hand rested on top of his all of a sudden. He jumped a bit, startled by the sudden warmth and blinked tiredly at the hands owner.

"Sans?"

 **"morning, paps,"** he said softly and rubbed Papyrus’ head gently with his other hand.

"Good morning, brother," Papyrus said and yawned, "how was Berry’s sleepover?"

 **"pretty good. it was good...uh...h-how was yours?"** Sans asked.

Papyrus looked at Sans in curiosity, wondering why his brother looked so nervous. "Sans, are you ok? You don’t look too good."

**"paps, i’m...please answer my question first."**

Papyrus felt his soul twist painfully at the sight of Sans looking at him with worriedly, his voice pleading and full of concern. "It was...,"he didn’t really know how to describe his sleepover. It was...complicated. He felt good talking to his friends about everything that’s been bottled up inside him for so long but terrified at the same time because of his fear being so persistent last night. "I-It was good too..."

Papyrus gave him a tired smile, hoping his simple answer was good enough for his brother but when Sans sighed and looked at him with a frown, his smile dropped.

**"don’t make this harder than it has to be, papyrus. i’m trying to...just talk to me bro, please."**

"Brother, what are you-"

**"edge and stretch told me what happened last night, paps. i don’t think they told me everything but...enough for me to worry about you, little brother."**

Papyrus froze as his soul turned cold, disbelief, worry, and fear crawling all over his body and mind. He wanted to feel betrayed as well, his friends promised they wouldn’t tell, but he couldn’t. He didn’t blame them. He wasn’t going to tell Sans about what happened last night, or at least not this soon, even though deep down he really wanted to, and his friends must’ve figured that and went ahead to tell his brother themselves the truth. In a way, he was actually thankful for them speaking for him. He wasn’t sure that even if he did decide to tell Sans, he would’ve been able to tell the full story.

"Brother..."

Sans looked at him in anticipation. **"yeah, bro?"**

Papyrus lifted up his blankets and patted a spot next to him in bed. "Can I tell you a bedtime story? I know it’s not an appropriate time for one, but...it’s important.”

Sans gave his brother a small smile before climbing onto the bed. When a Papyrus pulled the blanket over him and over their chests, Sans pulled him into a hug and cradled his little brother’s head against his ribcage, right over the spot where his soul was. Papyrus hummed in content, feeling his worries and fears melt away a little just by hearing his big brother’s soul beating gently. Sans rubbed his thumbs in small, soothing circles on Papyrus’ head and softly said, **"i’m all ears, bro. just let it all out."**

For once in his life, Papyrus let one of Sans’ jokes slide as he emptied his bottled up emotions and feelings, but not before sending a quick text to two certain skeletons.

* * *

 “...DID WE DO THE RIGHT THING?” Edge whispered as he sat on the porch just outside of Sans and Papyrus’ house, waiting for his brother to come and pick him up. 

Stretch, who was sitting right next to him waiting for his own brother to pick him up, lit up a cigarette before answering, “well, we both broke a promise but with good intentions so...maybe.”

Edge looked at him deadpanned. “YOU’RE SO REASSURING,” he said, before smirking when a memory from last night just occurred to him. “AND A POTTY MOUTH.” He laughed when Stretch choked and coughed up puffs of smoke.

Stretch glared at him and spluttered, “i-i was...you know why...one time! i cursed in front of him one time!”

“AND I’LL NEVER LET YOU LIVE IT DOWN. NYEH HEH HEH.”

“i-i wasn’t myself at the moment.” Stretch grumbled and breathed in some smoke before letting it out slowly. Suddenly, he remembered in particular what happened last night and he smirked at Edge, who’s laugh died down to a few chuckles. “and neither were you, oh royal guard.”

Edge stopped chuckling and blushed brightly, growling at Stretch. “DON’T YOU DARE-“

“oh wait, hold on. before you start yelling at me, you want me to go back inside and grab you a pillow? i’m sure paps wouldn’t mind letting you, one of the bravest skeletons he knows, borrow a pillow for your screams of joy.”

“I-I WAS NOT EXPECTING HIM TO SAY SUCH PRAISE, OK! HE CAUGHT ME OFF GAURD IS ALL...”

“you were redder than your scarf, edge. i hope you’re red-dy for me to never let you live that down.”

Edge huffed in annoyance, at both the pun and Stretch’s playful threat, and extended his hand towards him. “TRUCE.”

Stretch chuckled, ”nyeh heh. truce,” he said and shook his hand before letting go and taking another puff of smoke in. A second later their phones went off, both taking their phones out of their pockets and unlocking it. They were both greeted by a new group message.

To: Edgy, Stretchy  
From: Papyrus

P: Thank you

Edge and Stretch smiled fondly at the message, both looking at each other with a smile and a nod before responding back.

To: Edgelord, Little Bro Paps  
From: Stretch

S: anytime, paps. u can count on me and edge anytime.

To: Lazybones, Great Baby Brother  
From: Edge (The Great and Terrible)

E: IT WAS NO PROBLEM, PAPYRUS. WE’LL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU WHENEVER YOU NEED US.

A few minutes passed before their phones ringtones went off simultaneously. They both read the message and felt their souls swell with happiness and pride.

P: I know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SuperSam- Thanks! I was having troubles trying to come up with an ending for this so hopefully this didn’t disappoint.
> 
> Sora_Tayuya- Thank you! Trying to write humor in a serious setting was challenging. I was hoping to balance it out and not be too much of one or the other so that the writing could be more interesting. This story was originally going to be a lot more intense with the potential abuse actually being true and not just a misunderstanding, but I’m a sucker for a hopeful, happy ending. Maybe next time, who knows?
> 
> roseyanon-We’ll, now you know. Hoped you enjoyed reading!
> 
> Thanks to all who read, comment, and give out kudos to this story.
> 
> Also, if there are any tags that you feel that this story should have, such as warnings and such, please feel free to say so in the comments below.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all who read, comment, and give out kudos to this story.
> 
> Also, if there are any tags that you feel that this story should have, such as warnings and such, please feel free to say so in the comments below.


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